Excess rainfall should bring power tariffs down: Sajith
Wednesday, 26 June 2013 00:24
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Former UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday called on the Government to reduce electricity tariffs that were increased by 60% last month since the CEB had generated well over its estimated number of giga watts due to the excessive rainfall over the past few months.
Premadasa said that the CEB had estimated 951Gw could be generated through hydro power in the first five months of the year whereas the actual number due to the current weather conditions was almost double.
“In the first five months of the year, CEB managed to generate 2057 Gw from hydro power. That’s a 115 percent increase on their original estimate,” Premadasa told a press conference yesterday.
He said the CEB had made profits of Rs. 27 billion due to this excess.
“The rationale for higher power tariffs was the fact that costs were high to general power using fuel. On the other hand, now the CEB has the opportunity to provide electricity at the lowest possible cost since they have exceeded their generation through hydro power,” he said.
Premadasa called on the Government to pass that cost recovery on to the people by reducing electricity prices. (DB)
